Ethereal ✭Fred Weasley✭

104.

Arthur and Bill returned to the corridor where Percy, Fred and Sophia had begun to walk back into the Great Hall. It would be the meeting place for the injured to be treated by anyone who had the ability to conjure bandages and potions. However, Sophia only made it to the archway of the hall when her legs weakened considerably and her injuries drained the last licks of adrenaline that had been keeping her standing. She fell sideways and knocked into Fred's arm, alerting him of her falling figure and spiked his old Beater reflexes.

"Woah woah woah," Fred repeated out of surprise and slipped his arm around her back, letting her lean into him as he hiked her legs up with his other arm. "What's wrong?!"

"M-My side..." she muttered with her eyelids beginning to drop. She longed for another sleep and hung comfortably in Fred's arms, laying her head against his shoulder in content.

"She's lost a lot of blood," Bill came forward and noticed her arm, shoulder and torso was covered in a mixture of dried and fresh redness. "But she hasn't lost any tissue. She just needs bandages."

Fred listened intently before hurrying further into the Great Hall where lines of people lay waiting to be tended to. There was only Madam Pomfrey and volunteering witches who were most likely from St. Mungos trying to get through as many people as they could. They had no choice but to dispose of the helpless and close to death to tend to the ones who could be saved. Most had resulted in bandaging themselves and getting others to run to the Potions classroom to take all the remedies that could be useful.

As they were one of the first batches of people in, the Weasley boys laid Sophia down a small distance away from the group and quickly got to work. Fred took the initiative to conjure the bandages and cover most of her side, leaving Percy to grab some blood-replenishing potions from the supply and slip some past Sophia's lips. They left her to doze for the time being and went to find the rest of the family, when the familiar voice of Molly made them whip their heads around towards the entrance.

"A-Arthur... oh Arthur..." she sobbed as she stumbled down the aisle, tears leaking down her cheeks. Arthur met her half way and she collapsed into his arms, bawling into his front and worrying Bill, Percy and Fred immensely.

"Molly, what is it?!" Arthur inquired and looked over her for injuries. The woman couldn't muster any real words and cried helplessly into his shoulder, leaving the boys behind them to look up to the entrance.

They didn't need any more explanation as the sight of a stretcher being brought in was enough for them to simultaneously break down like their Mother. Charlie and a seventh year student carried the stretcher down the aisle and lowered it down next to where Sophia dozed. The family immediately swarmed around the spot as the body of George lay still with his eyes gazing lifelessly to the ceiling of the hall. Fred's heart shattered into millions of pieces and he couldn't stop the tears and whimpers that radiated from his being. He lowered himself to his knees and balled up George's jumper in his fists, touching his head to his twin's chest in hopes of some rejuvenation or a miracle of life-giving magic. But the boy's heart stayed still and Fred was left with half of his soul gone forever.

Ginny soon arrived and sunk into the space opposite her older brother, sobbing over the once joking and painfully annoying boy. The family was inconsolable as they had never felt the travesty of losing a son and/or brother. It was a pain in their chests that sunk into their bones and made everything else around them irrelevant. There were plenty of bodies that lay lifeless in the hall but none of them compared to the one in front of them.

Sophia came to only minutes after she had lost consciousness and sat up without much thought of the atmosphere around her. The bandages on her side reminded her of the ache in her veins but she took the moment to gather her surroundings. She only looked to her left after she had seen Molly and Arthur Weasley standing at her feet with tearful and crestfallen expressions. It was worse than the looks they wore when they watched their home burn. It was more personal and made them look ten years older than they were. Molly would have suited white hair and Arthur could have hunched over from the wearing of time.